Monthly Archives: December 2018

It can’t be a birthday without a birthday shirt for Doc! (Literally, it can’t; he’s going to get shirts for the rest of our time together because he is so hard to shop for.)

This year’s version is ikat from Stonemountain. I blame watching the new Queer Eye and hearing Tan mutter something like, “Why do straight men only wear plaid?” to get me to branch out a little for Doc.

I used the trusty McCalls 6044 pattern with my redrafted one-piece sleeve and the tower sleeve vents from the Archer button up. This is either the eighth or ninth shirt for him from this pattern, so it all went together pretty easily. The snaps gave me a lot of grief, though–I ran out of time to order 18L size from Snap Source so struggled through setting some from JoAnn and it was terrible. Snap Source or bust from here on out.

I also had some tension issues with my machine, which the light stitching on the dark fabric makes extra-noticeable. But I have to remember what my mom says: “You’ll never see it from the streamliner.” Doc says he likes it, he looks handsome in it, and it was made with love.

It was the best weekend because it was sunny, I finished all the top secret knitting and sewing, and most importantly, it was Doc’s birthday!

After nearly five years, I am finally accepting that he just doesn’t like being the center of attention (on a birthday or otherwise) so I will merely say that he is the best hiking companion, the best Toby chin-scratcher, and just really the best.

I always default to Carl Sagan with him because he reminds me of Sagan so much–deeply curious, unfailingly kind, enthusiastically rational–so here’s my favorite quote that applies to Doc: “In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch” with him.

You look up, and perhaps because of the expression on my face
you say, “What?”
It would be impossible for me to explain
if you don’t already understand.

2. It’s Bob Ross season again at our house: Doc is working more later shifts, everyone is stressed out, and sometimes you just need to watch something soothing by the glow of the twinkle lights–and receive life advice at the same time.

I’ve fallen into the the SALES! and DEALS! and “hey if you’re buying something for this person, add this thing for you and get FREE SHIPPING!” traps. (My inbox for all of December pretty much looks like this.)

This essay by Kimberly Harrington–“Nothing You Buy Will Change You“– could have been written by my better, funnier self. I, too, once did a shopping fast, and I have been trying (until this month when J. Crew started 60% off sale and Madewell had 30% off for Black Friday, ahem) to only buy ready-made clothes from responsible sources. Clearly I’ve fallen off the wagon, so maybe I need to use Kimberly’s trick:

When I’m considering buying something I ask myself, “What am I hoping for from this?” and 9 times out of 10 I leave empty handed. Most importantly, I no longer look to any of it and think, “how can you change me, thing? How can you make me better?”

It’s my sister-in-law’s 40th birthday today! I’ve always thought that she’d be the one to have around in the apocalypse–her skill set is vast and varied and covers everything from making rockets to growing medicinal herbs. She can grind wheat into flour, bake you bread with it, and probably set a bone if you needed it. My grandmother once said, “She’s a hard worker” and from a Midwestern farm woman, there is no greater praise.

She’s teaching her son all these skills but she’s also teaching him how to be a compassionate, rational human (like herself), and that’s wonderful to see. Being on vacation with them really gave me a chance to see her interact as a parent; watching someone you’ve known for a long time expand to fill the role of “Mom” is pretty incredible, especially since she’s doing such a good job with it.

She’s dry and funny and loves oddball stuff like I do, and is just so fun to be around. Happy birthday, Altair!

My old roommate would buy huge quantities of soap and detergent and toilet paper and just stockpile them, telling me every time he added more, “It doesn’t go bad!”

Fortunately, the same thing is true of fabric.

I bought this slubby stretch linen/cotton in April last year, declaring it to be “the summer of shirts.” I cut it out and then it sat…and sat…and sat. I said I’d finish it this year for the Summer of Basics…and it still sat. But I finally finished it last month and got some pictures when I wore it yesterday.

Doing my best impression of a male model in a 70s turtleneck catalog

The pattern is the Grainline Archer, but this time I went up two full sizes–my first ones were a 4 in the shoulders grading to a 6 at the waist, and this is an 8 grading to a 10. It’s not that oversized now since I’m getting muscles, but it’s nice and relaxed. The sleeves ended up a little long but I can deal with it.

You can’t really see the detail in the fabric but there’s a hairline stripe. It’s sold out now–since this project took years–but I found it at Threadbare Fabrics.

I’ve got that December feeling where the days seem so long (and you’re ready to go to bed at 8:30 because it’s been dark for hours) but then you realize that Christmas is in two weeks and some change and you’re turning 39 in under a month and there’s still so much left TO DO, both for the holiday and your life!

So let’s distract ourselves from the unstoppable march of time with the internet:

I’m a few days late to the party, but The Atlantic is hosting Alan Taylor’s 11th annual Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar, a favorite around here. I used to talk about space a lot more, but things like this still get me (those are all mostly galaxies):

“The mass of this galaxy cluster is large enough to severely distort the spacetime around it, creating the odd, looping curves that almost encircle the cluster. These graceful arcs are examples of a cosmic phenomenon known as an Einstein ring. “

And via Kottke, I found A Christmas Movie A Day, which so far has featured great writing, old movies I want to add to my list (and also Batman Returns), and this gif of Katherine Hepburn dancing to bongos: